InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Between the Wasteland and Sky ❯ Quickly Laid Plans ( Chapter 5 )

Between the Wasteland and Sky

Chapter 5: Quickly Laid Plans

~*~

Kagome's grandfather shuffled into his home, reflecting upon the days work. He hadn't seen Kagome all day; his mind quickly jumped to the possibility and hope that this was a good thing. Perhaps she was practicing her skills, or even making friends although the latter didn't seem as likely which depressed him.

Looking out a window at the darkening sky, he declared to himself that if a sandstorm didn't hit soon then he was a sand flea. Hopefully the village wise men were taking heed of the warnings. He was feeling too lazy to walk across town and tell them.

The old oak table he had made in the Age of Forests, and that he still treasured, greeted him in the main room of his somewhat larger dwelling. Facing him as he walked up to it was a large stone slab with painted words on it. Immediately he knew Kagome had done something either stupid or rash again. `Well at least she makes life a little more exciting', he though. Not that he wanted or felt that he needed excitement.

Dear Grandfather,

I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly, but you would not have let me go, and I know you wouldn't have let me borrow your bow. Anyway you would have asked where I'm going and I wouldn't have been able to answer.

I've left with the stranger that appeared the other day. Don't worry I'll try to come home soon, but I honestly don't know how long I'll be gone. Take care of everyone. Maybe when I return they won't hate me as much.

Kagome

He read it through once more to make sure he'd understood everything, then sighed and took a seat. What bothered him the most wasn't that she had gone, or even that she had stolen-although she had carefully used the word `borrowed'-his bow. It was this blasted storm that was heading their way. Depending on which direction she had gone, the storm would hit her sometime between tonight and tomorrow morning. He decided to resign himself to a nap and try not to worry.

After preparing himself for sleep, he lay down gently on the soft mat in the corner of his room. Before he closed his eyes the last part of that note struck his consciousness and stuck there like a thorn that refused to leave. What was he going to do about how little respect she was given in this village? Her spirit and willfulness had annoyed and frustrated the elders. Well that was a problem for when he awoke.

`Well she definitely didn't get this from my side of the family', he thought to himself with a small chuckle.

~*~

"Inuyasha, where are we going?" Although Kagome remembered her promise not to ask too many questions, the idea of roaming the desert with someone she'd only just met-regardless of how much she already liked him and trusted him-in an unknown direction didn't appeal to her.

Looking back over her shoulder in the direction she knew her small village must be, she took a deep breath. It seemed to Kagome that the idea of leaving her town had seemed like a much keener one when she was still home. Oh well, nothing for it. She had come this far and she intended to press on. Besides she had grandfather's bow strapped to her back and the arrows slung diagonally across her back, she felt they would be safe if they were attacked.

Inuyasha continued to put one foot in front of the other steadily, but after a moment's pause he decided to answer. "We're heading to the nearest town. A sandstorm is heading in our direction and the sooner we find shelter the better. It should hit tomorrow morning so we'd best be in town by then."

`How stupid can I be?' Kagome thought. Just the other day she and her grandfather had foretold a storm coming soon. Why hadn't she waited in town with Inuyasha for just another day?

The wind whipped at the haori of the boy in front of Kagome. Feeling her hair blowing fiercely behind her, she knew that the storm would be here sooner than Inuyasha had guessed.

The soft flaky sand that Kagome knew so well was slowly becoming an endless expanse of tough coarse grain. The sound of their footsteps had changed from a quiet patter to a slightly more audible slap of feet against turf. After what felt like a day-or longer- Kagome finally sighted a shimmering town in the distance.

Her mind wanted to say something to Inuyasha to see if he had noticed, but her dry tongue refused to let her speak. Once again she was reminded of how rash she had been to insist they leave right away. They had no water or food and she hadn't even known where they were going. Did Inuyasha carry money? The only clothing she had with her was what she wore at the village: A flowing white top with red thread darting in and out of the edges of the sleeves and full red pants to cover her legs from the harsh sun. And as far as she could tell, all Inuyasha had was his white undershirt and the large pillow-like red haori he wore over it. Both of them wore a simple pair of sandals for their feet.

Finally their monotonous footsteps brought them to the edge of the town. Kagome was surprised at how large this town was compared to her tiny village. The whole encampment bustled with life. Voices of children and grown men and women alike filled the humid air. Apparently they weren't aware of the sandstorm on its way.

But what caught Kagome's attention was something only fifty yards away. A well! The need for water gave her the motivation she needed to sprint across those fifty yards and nearly topple over the side of the well in her eagerness.

~*~

After both Kagome and Inuyasha had drank their full, both collapsed with their backs against the side of the well. The girl groaned when Inuyasha gracefully leapt to his feet again after only just a minute of rest. Couldn't they just sit for a moment in the shade of the well? However she was aware that she could either get up and follow or be left behind. Naturally she chose the first possibility.

Already a few townsfolk were staring at the couple. It wasn't often that travelers came walking into their town from that side of the desert. As far as they knew, there were no inhabitants to the east of them. Evidently the people of Kagome's village had hidden themselves from the world.

As the boy and girl made their way to the center of town they observed the stares and murmurs they were getting. Although these villagers wore clothing generally similar to their own, the cloth they wore looked tighter and clearly less comfortable. The colors varied very little from person to person. Generally Kagome saw dark blues and greens along with little white and a lot of black. The bright red that Inuyasha and Kagome sported stuck out like a sea serpent in a desert.

Inuyasha either didn't notice or didn't care about this, for he walked up to a small dark haired man and tapped him on the shoulder. "Do the people here know there is a sandstorm on its way?" he asked politely.

The man looked him up and down and sneered. "The mayor has it on good authority that the sandstorm isn't going to hit this town. He told us it would pass us by." Looking disgusted that he even bothered to answer, the man walked away from the pair in a hurry.

Before Kagome could make any comment at how rude the man had been, a lady walked up to them and smiled. "Sorry about how unfriendly this town seems sir. Would you like to come to my house for some tea? I'll tell you what's gone wrong here. I must say you both arrived at just the wrong time if you were expecting smiles and good will."

Inuyasha accepted the offer and Kagome followed him again, a little annoyed that she hadn't been addressed. `Well at least we'll get some answers now', she reassured herself.

~*~*~*~

Well I wrote this pretty late at night so forgive me if there are many errors here. The spellchecker on my computer is on holiday apparently. I'm sorry if the chapters are too short. I'm having trouble finding the time to just sit down and write a good long chapter for you all. Part of it is that I have two brothers to contend with and the other part is that I seem to get my "inspiration" late at night and before I know it my mom is telling me to go up to bed. Speaking of which, I must go now. I've completely lost track of the time.

I'll try very hard to make the next chapter extremely long. I have so many choices of how to write the next chapter that it's making me excited. I hope you all like the fic, and don't forget to review!

Cheers!

Isuki-chan